This was a very heartbreaking read, based on a true story, we meet Helene and her family as the Nazis are coming to take them to a prison camp for being gypsy. Helene is Aryan and therefore not required to go, but she refuses to leave her family. And so follows an account of a brave, strong woman who will go to any lengths to protect her children in the most horrific of circumstances. I read someone who said we didn't need any more stories written about Auschwitz, but I think that everyone who suffered is entitled to be remembered in any way they can be, and for us to be reminded of the horrific things human are capable of. I couldn't help but compare this to the way my government has incarcerated the refuges into prison camps and wonder why nothing has been learned from the past.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

AUSCHWITZ LULLABY
By Mario Escobar

It was an honor to read this haunting yet powerful story of love and humanity that refused to be extinguished in the most horrifying circumstances. I wonder how well I would hold up in the face of mass murders, starvation and death. Crimes committed against innocent people whose fault not of their own making is being in a different ethnic group than German. This is a factual account of one woman's love of humanity and her brave attempts at making the Auschwitz victims lives easier to endure and survive. I have never before heard of the "Gypsy Jews," whom during Hitler's reign labeled and exterminated them because they weren't German.

Helene Hanneman and her husband who she adored was labeled a "Gypsy Jew" and considered by the Nazi's to be a lower class than Helene because she was German. Their five kids that comprised this loving husband and wife were also considered a lower class and were also labeled "Gypsy Jews." In May of 1943 Helene receives that dreaded knock on the door from Nazi soldiers telling her since she is German she can remain at home. Her husband and five children were to be carted off. What would you do?

Immediately upon arriving Helene and her five children get separated from her husband who gets whisked away off to the hard labor camps. Helene and her children are kept together and sent off to the gypsy Jews," barracks It is deplorable living conditions. When Dr. Joseph Mengele arrives he picks Helene to set up a nursery school and kindergarten. The reason he picks her is because she is both German and a nurse, he thinks she will be the most efficient The school provides a respite by heat during the winter and more food.

This is really an unforgettable true story about Helene's kind and loving spirit. She is a devoted mother and she brings humanity to every life she touches. This story illuminates the pure goodness in the face of evil. It is both haunting and unforgettable. It is the story of how one woman can impact so many lives This was sad but I am so glad I read it. It is informative and powerful. I will never forget this story.

Thank you to Net Galley, Mario Escobar and Thomas Publishing for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. ""

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars on Goodreads.

Stephen King is quoted as categorising three types of terror.   The gross-out. The horror.  The terror.      Personally, I'm not into any of these things but Mario Escobar's novel of historical fiction plonked me firmly into a place where all three were daily facts of life.    This was real horror on a level fiction doesn't go close to. 

<b>The place?   Auschwitz.
The novel?   Auschwitz Lullaby.</b>

Helene Hannemann was a German woman,  married to the love of her life, and mother of five children.     It just so happened her husband was Romani and it was 1943 Germany, so when the SS came to round up her family she insisted she was going wherever they were going.   Thus, all seven of them found themselves on a cattlecar bound for the deplorable conditions of the Gypsy camp at Auschwitz.    Whilst there Dr Josef Mengele entrusted Helene to set up a Kindergarten and school for the children of Auschwitz.   To her surprise they were provided with extra rations and supplies for the Kindergarten and Dr Mengele showed a particular interest in the children.     With the benefit of hindsight and history books readers can guess at Mengeles interest but there was no such luck for Helene and the children.         This is their story - two protagonists, both real - told according to the heartbreaking and distressing facts.   

Auschwitz Lullaby is not an easy read but it is an important one.     As WWII and the Nazi crimes against humanity slip further into the past it is easy for us to lose sight of the impact of the events that shaped the world and for the lives lost to become reduced to a series of numbers.     Reading closes this distance and brings the   horrors of Auschwitz and the  lives of at least one family up close and personal.   There's no way I will forget this story any time soon.    And though I don't gravitate to horror stories, this is one I'm glad to have read because it's so important we remember.

Despite the difficult content the writing was beautiful, the story sad, and I found myself highlighting great chunks of text.   Being an historian, Escobar included a Chronology of the Gypsy Camp at Auschwitz and Historical Clarifications in which he points out the few places his fiction veered from the facts.     

I know some people have tired of, or avoid, reading these kinds of stories.     This is one I strongly recommend.    I give my thanks to Mario Escobar for sharing Helene's story and would like to reassure him that his fear of <i>"... not being able to capture the greatness of Helene Hannemann’s soul within the lines of these pages" </i> was completely unfounded.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

4.5 stars

Stories of this genre are some of my favorites, and I’ve read many fiction and nonfiction books about WWII, so I was excited to read this book. This is a fictional tale, but it is based on actual events and people (which are detailed at the end of the book).

Helene is German, but she married a gypsy and had five children. When the police come to take away her family, Helene refuses to stay behind. The entire family ends up at Auschwitz. The book follows Helene’s time in the Gypsy camp, where she lives with her children. (She is unsure of what happens to her husband until late into the story.) Due to her German heritage, Helene is allowed certain privileges that the other prisoners do not have, and she has earned favor with Dr. Mengele. She does what she must do to keep her children alive, even if that means working with Dr. Mengele, often referred to as Dr. Death.

The reader is shown a side of concentration camps that is not always told in other stories. As a result, this is a highly engaging read, and the story seems to fly by. It’s apparent that the author put a lot of research into this book, and he educates the reader on things not often discussed (such as the gypsy people and their treatment during WWII). It’s a difficult topic to write about, but the author handles it tactfully.

On another note, the “lullaby” referenced is only mentioned once in the story. Sadly, it’s written in German and does not include a translation. Thomas Nelson does publish a lot of Christian Fiction, but this one does not fall under that category.

Some poignant quotes include:

• “How much suffering had come from this war and, above all, from the evil of those who believed they were superior because of the color of their skin, their background, or their language.”
• “Ever since you came, a ray of hope has penetrated the camp. You may not realize it, but you’re an inspiration and a hope for all of us.”
• “Death did not pause to distinguish between the guilty and the innocent.”
• “Evil is much bigger than an antisocial behavior or a psychological deficiency. Above all, it is a lack of love for one’s self and for others.”
• “…I would not be beaten. I would fight to the last breath. With the world falling to pieces around me, I would stand firm.”

This review was posted on Goodreads and Amazon.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley, but I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

This book was so good, really well written, excellent tale too but it was also very sad, sometimes you have to appreciate what you have in life and this was one of those books that makes you think a lot about the past. I would really recommend this to anyone looking to have a good historical read.

I finished Auschwitz Lullaby with tears streaming down my face. It sent me to the internet to find out more, and I discussed it with my husband as I read. Auschwitz Lullaby will haunt me for a long, long time.

💫ALL OF THE STARS!💫 I was so caught up in this beautiful book that time flew by and I finished it in one sitting. I tend to love books based on this time period and Auschwitz Lullaby, centered around a strong female lead, did not disappoint. Helene is a full blood German but married and had five children with a Gypsy man. When the SS arrive to take her family, Helene makes the brave decision to go with her family. They are transported to Auschwitz and what follows is the harrowing tale of survival, love, and loss. Helene is a trained nurse and is sent to work at the hospital under the leadership of the notorious Dr. Mengele. The stories are sickening, heart-breaking, and serve as a reminder of this horrible regime. Helene is a brave, strong, loving Mama Bear and fiercely protects her cubs. I laughed, I cried, I felt her frustrations and fears. For me, Auschwitz Lullaby is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. Thank you @thomasnelson for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

I have read numerous books about the holocaust. What makes this one unique is that it is the story of the treatment of the Gypsy population at Auschwitz. The story itself didn’t really tell me much that I didn’t already know about the treatment these people received but did come from a bit of a different perspective than most others.

At times I felt this book was very shallow. Most of the characters and events were very vague. It certainly could have used more depth and detail. I also read very little emotion from our main character. She wasn’t very likable at all.

The ending is tragic. We all know how the story ended for so very many.

4.5 stars .

I’ve read many books about the Holocaust, memoirs, and many novels, some of which were based on real people. Yet, there always seems to be something new to learn. The author’s dedication: “To the more than twenty thousand ethnic Gypsies who were imprisoned and exterminated in Auschwitz and to the quarter million murdered in the forests and ditches of Northern Europe and Russia.” I didn’t know. This is based on a true story, a real family. This novel tells the story of Helene Hannemann, a German woman married to a Roma, a Gypsy, who is taken to Auschwitz with her husband and five children as gypsies were rounded up by the Nazis in 1943. Even though she is German and doesn’t have to go, she refuses to let her family go without her. This is a book about the horrors of the concentration camps, but it is also a book about a mother’s unbridled love for her children.

Helene is a nurse and is called on by Mengele to run a school for the gypsy children at the camp. Of course, knowing who the vile Mengele was and the horrific things he was capable of, my heart sunk. How could this be a good thing? This is not easy to read as are other stories of the concentration camps; it is horrific as we see what Mengele does to children in the name of medicine and how these people suffer the conditions too awful to imagine. But Helene and the women who help her managed to bring smiles to the faces of these children when it seemed impossible. It’s a short book and it reads quickly because it’s hard to stop reading, wondering about the fate of Helene and her family. This is another book that I woke up thinking about, thinking about the many millions of Jews and others such as the Gypsies who were victims of the twisted beliefs that are so contrary to what it means to be human. Escobar’s publisher told him that “the world needed to know” Helene Hannemann’s story. Escobar call on us, the readers and our “love for truth and justice” to help him “tell the world the story of Helene Hannemann and her five children.” As with other Holocaust books, I passionately believe that we cannot forget and so with my short review, I hope that anyone who reads it will know a little of Helene’s story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Helene Hannemann is a wife and mother of five who is separated from her husband, a Roma gypsy and sent to Auschwitz, even though she is an Aryan German. This book was extremely sad and difficult to read, as it deals with the horrors that children faced in the concentration camps. Helene, who is faring a little better than others because she is a nurse, is eventually asked by Dr. Mengele to run a daycare and nursery school at Auschwitz and she agrees.

It was a different take on the horrific events during World War 2 to see how the gypsies were treated, barely a half-step up from the Jews. The author has a beautiful, matter-of-fact tone to his writing, which served the subject well, but made it hard for me to feel much more than pity for the characters. Helene's dedication to her children was beautiful, but the attempt to give Dr. Mengele even glimpses of humanity were unsettling.

This is a book with a heartbreaking end, as if often the case with stories of the Holocaust. If you'd like a new take on a group of people who suffered during WW2 that we don't often hear or read much about, this would be a great read for you.

3 out of 5 stars for Auschwitz Lullaby by Mario Escobar.. Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read #AuschwitzLullaby and provide my honest review.

Auschwitz Lullaby by Mario Escobar portrayed a mother's unconditional and encompassing love for her children above all else. This was a story based on a German woman, Helene Hannemann's life. Helene Hannemann was married to Johann, a talented violinist of Roma gypsy descent. Together they had five children including a pair of twins. Helene was a nurse. One morning Helene and her older children were just about to leave their apartment for school and work when they were stopped by some German soldiers. The soldiers demanded to know where her husband was. When Helene and her children re-entered their apartment with the German soldiers Helene was about to hear the worst and most dreaded commands she could have ever imagined. The German soldiers were taking her husband and children away from her. She was free to stay because she was Aryan or pure German. However, Helene knew that her choice was to go with her children before she even said them out loud. She was her children's mother. No matter what, she would be with her five mixed-blood Gypsy children and try and protect them.

Helene Hannemann and her five children arrived at Auschwitz/Birkenau in May 1943 and were immediately separated from her husband. They were brought to the Gypsy camp at Birkenau. It was soon discovered that Helene Hannemann had been a nurse so she was assigned to the hospital to work. Shortly after her arrival, Josef Mengele arrived at the Gypsy camp at Birkenau. Mengele wanted to open a children's nursery and school in Birkenau. He chose Helene to create and direct it. She was chosen by Mengele mostly because she was an Aryan. He trusted her. The school was the only constant and positive thing in Helene's stay. She was determined to do whatever she had to do to keep her children, herself and the children in the camp alive. In the beginning, she was able to provide a safe, warm place for the children to stay during the day. Food rations for the children became more plentiful and she was also able to provide milk for a while. It took away the horrors of the camp for a few hours for those children that attended. She forged friendships with some of the other prisoners and for the most part was regarded favorably by those prisoners.

Although Helene Hannemann's story was real, certain aspects from the book were fictionalized. Supposedly, she left a journal behind in the camp and that is where a lot of the information for the story was found and in other research done by Mario Escobar. The horrors of the day-to-day living at the camp were graphic at times and made you want to cry. Descriptions of Mengele's experiments with twin children were horrific and chilling. Auschwitz Lullaby was hard to read at times but I am glad that I read it. Many of the characters in Helene Hannemann's story were real She was a courageous woman who always presented herself as a mother first. Her children needed her to be strong and she would not let them down. I highly recommend this book. No one should ever forget this terrifying time in our history.

I received a complimentary copy of Auschwitz Lullaby from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Auschwitz Lullaby

by Mario Escobar

Auschwitz Lullaby is a sad book based on the life of Helene Hannemann, a German woman married to a talented Gypsy violinist. As an Aryan she could have saved her own life, but she chooses instead to accompany her five mixed-blood Gypsy children to Auschwitz. There she is chosen by the infamous Doctor Mengele to establish and run a nursery school at the concentration camp. Knowing that Mengele would only perform this “kindness” to the children for his own ends, she agrees anyway to provide the starving children with more nutritious food, several hours a day in a cleaner, healthier environment, and some mental respite from the stressful deprivations and horrors of the camp.

Without graphic descriptions, the author Mario Escobar uses a first person format, having Helene tell her own story through a journal which she supposedly left behind in the camp. Her writing is encased in a Prologue and Epilogue in Mengele’s voice. As I read this work of historical fiction, I wondered how much was true. I was gratified to discover a section called “Historical Clarifications” at the conclusion of the tale that explains clearly the aspects of the book that are nonfiction. The author is a historian so he also adds a “Chronology of the Gypsy Camp at Auschwitz” and acknowledgements of his sources of research.

Although the publisher categorizes the book as “historical fiction” and “Christian,” there are not a lot of overt references to Christianity, but there is an underlying thread of faith, hope,and love available through the power of God. The school holds a meager Christmas celebration which attempts to “give these children back a little bit of their faith.” Helene notes “that night we were celebrating life, the birth of the Christ child” and she ponders the message of the manger: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.” There are other Christian themes throughout of love, forgiving one’s enemies, God’s plan for Helene’s life, and the existence of evil.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Historical Fiction, Christian

Publication: August 7, 2018 — Thomas Nelson

Memorable Lines:

“From the first time I saw you, I knew God had brought you here to ease our pain somehow. You were so lost, confused, and scared, but I could see a fierce determination in the back of your eyes.”

Death seemed like a gift from heaven, but I knew that it was not yet for me. I was an old ship in the middle of a storm, and my children anchored me to life. I had to keep fighting for them, trying to hold on to hope, looking each day in the face, praying for this nightmare to finally be over.

“God sent you here to guide us. We needed a breath of hope, and you showed up with your beautiful family. I’ve never known anyone as brave and determined as you.”

I tried to fill my heart with love. I did not want hatred to eat away my insides. I had to love even my enemies. It was the only way to keep from becoming a monster myself.

Well, there is nothing happy about this book, we all know what Auschwitz was, so don’t go looking for that. Instead read this to learn something new about the place. We should always be looking to learn more about this place. There are always new levels.
This is the story of Helene Hannemann. Helene was full blooded Aryan German but she fell in love with a Romani man. We know the Romani more commonly as Gypsies. Helene and Johann had five children and led a good life until the Reich started narrowing their lives down with restrictions.
Helene was a nurse, her husband a musician. One day the SS come to take them away. We know about this part, the trains, the struggle to maintain a speck of dignity, the camp, the struggle to stay alive. When the camp command finds out Helene is full blooded acceptable German, she is invited by Dr. Mengele – yes, him – to open and run a kindergarten for the children in the Romani camp. She accepts his offer because it gives her a purpose, it gives her some small advantages for her own children, it gives some small advantages for the Romani children and thus a little longer thread of hope to survive. But she also comes to realize that her nursery Kindergarten is a feeder for Dr. Mengele’s experiments.
Helene’s story is true, she did exist, she did run the nursery, she did work for Mengele but only for the time and advantages it offered to the children. But, she knew full well what happens when you dance with the devil.

Filled with pathos, horror, and fortitude, this is the fictionalized story of Helene Hanneman and her family. Helene was an Aryan German married to a Roma (gypsy) with 5 children the day the Nazis came to take her husband and 5 children to an internment camp. She refused to be separated from her family so is taken with them. They along with 20, 943 ethnic Gyspies they were interned at the worst prison camp of all, Auschwitz. And it only went from bad to worse when Dr. Joseph Mengele was assigned to the camp. Helene's role because she is German and a nurse was to become head of Mengele's "nursery school project." There she goes above and beyond what a single woman can do to try and save the children and help the Gypsy parents as much as she can during all of the horror of extermination and separation of families.

This book is one that will break your heart at man's inhumane treatment of man; but at the same time, fill you with wonder at what mothers will do to protect their children at any cost. You will definitely need some kleenex by your side as you read it, but it will bring history to life and leave you praying that such depravity will never occur again.

Definitely a 5 star read from this new-to-me author.

** I received a complimentary copy of this book from publisher Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions are mine alone. I was not compensated for this review

A mother wakes in the morning, prepares for her day with her five children, and then there is pounding upon her door and life turns to the horrific. The world is on fire and now that fire has come to her door. This is the world of the Auschwitz Lullaby by Mario Escobar


Helene Hannemann is a young German mother of five. She is caught up in the conflict that is raging and is married to a Romani man, a gypsy, a person, a race, the SS and Hitler has determined needs to be caught, confined and eliminated. Helene's children are of mixed blood according to the Nazis and they too must be sent away. She is told she is free but instead, as a loving and caring mother, chooses to go with her family and they are sent to Auschwitz. We have heard all the stories, read the books, listened to survivors so we are well aware of the atrocities, the inhumane conditions, the death that awaits millions at the hands of Hitler and his bunch of devils.

Of course Helene and her husband are separated but she is allowed to remain with her children, dedicating herself to their protection and providing the best of care for them if that is at all possible. Helene was a nurse so she was assigned to nursing duties which brings her into the sphere that is inhabited by Dr Joseph Mengele. He seeks her out and encourages her to head up a nursery for infants and children up to the age of six. Helene agrees to do so in the hopes that she and others can provide a few moments of safety and a bit of care and maybe even happiness to these children. Helene and six others open their nursery/school to the children while less than five hundred feet away the gas chambers are systematically exterminating people. Can she and the others keep the children alive? Can she save her own five children?

This was a sad tale and although I have read and there have been written many stories of the Holocaust, this one seemed to take on a special aura. Perhaps it was because of Helene's being a mother, being a person who cared so much. She was us. For a time she was a person who was able to make a few moments in time happy and safe for some doomed children, a person who took risks, a person who was a hero. I recommend this book to all those who need to always realize that life, all life, is precious and that we are a fortunate people who always have to bear in mind that this horrendous time has occurred and this hate continues to happen throughout the world.

Thank you to Mario Escobar, Thomas Nelson Fiction, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this real life heroine.

It is common to refer to the murders by the Nazis during WW2 as genocide for 6 million Jews. This does not include 6 million other people who were murdered by the Nazis for their politics, sexuality, disability, ethnicity, and humanity in helping persecuted people. The latest reports indicate that as many as 20 million people may have actually been killed by the Nazis.

This is the fictionalized story of a real victim, Helene Hahnemann. Helene was an Aryan who chose to marry a Gypsy, Johann, a gifted violinist taken in by her family. Although her marriage raised eyebrows, the couple was happy and had a family of five children including a set of fraternal twins.

When the Nazis start their ethnic cleansing Gypsies, considered mongrels by the Nazis, are among their targets. Helene is given the opportunity to renounce her family and continue her life as an Aryan, but she elects to stay with her beloved husband and protect her children from the unknown horrors about to befall them.

Johann, a healthy man, is assigned to a work detail. Helene and the children are sent to foul Gypsy barracks where her family are considered pariahs for their mixed blood. Eventually, through her work as a trained nurse and her basic courage, she comes to be respected.

Strangely, the person that respects her the most is Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death. Because of her Aryan heritage and training as a nurse, he assigns her to open a nursery school for the children of the Gypsy camp. While she recognizes that Mengele is doing this for his own reasons, Helene is able to build a school and an infant creche, give the children of the camp a warm and caring atmosphere where they at least eat better and are distracted from the horrors around them. As she realizes the depth of Mengele's soul destroying evil, and learns of his experiments on twins, it becomes clearer that her family and her charges are in grave danger.

The introduction, which frames the book with Mengele's return to Europe in the 1950s from his exile in South America, is really extraneous. The story starts and ends with Helene's bravery, need for survival, and her humanity that makes the last days of the Gypsy inmates less horrific, if it is possible.

The afterword alerts us to the fact that the happy ending created by the author to give the reader hope is a false flag. There was no happy end for the Gypsies of Europe who, like the Jews, were virtually wiped out by the Nazis.

This is an important book in that it addresses a little known aspect of the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis, the blueprint for every genocide that came after. The story is well told and totally heartbreaking. However, Helene's courage in the face of ultimate evil is a story that must be told and remembered to remind us that heroes always rise to the surface even in the midst of a toxic swamp

This true account of Helene Hanneman, an Aryan German woman married twenty years to a Gypsy violinist, Johann. They were happy and had five children together.

What amazed me about this story was the fact that the German’s singled out and imprisoned Gypsy’s. It wasn’t just the Jewish people they were after. Helene stayed strong for her five children. She sang a Lullaby to calm them to sleep at night. She was all too aware of her surroundings…”there was an ever-present death sentence that had all our names written on it. Sooner or later, we all have to die, but in the concentration camp it felt like you did not actually die, you merely ceased to exist.”

After a few weeks in the camp Helene tells an inmate she is a nurse. The older woman lets the authorities know about Helene’s talents and is willing to help. That’s when she meets Dr. Josef Mengele and works in the Medical Barracks alongside him. Dr. Mengele soon approaches Helene with a request. He wants her to start up and run a nursery and school for the children there. He only trusted her to do this because she was a pure-blooded German. She thinks about it overnight and then starts dreaming “…I had now been given the sacred mission of saving the Gypsy children at Birkenau, which would start by reviving their will to live in the midst of all that death!”

Helene makes up a list of all the things she needed to do this up right including extra food for the children. The Dr. says she’d get all the items on the list. She thanks him. He replies, “There’s no need for thanks. I know most of you think we’re all a bunch of monsters, and you may be right to a degree, but that’s simplifying things greatly, don’t you think? We’re pursuing an ideal; we have a mission.… As long as I’m assigned here, those children will enjoy exquisite treatment, I assure.”

The Dr. is true to his word and a nursery and school are set up from May 1943 – August 1944. Helene was an inspiration to many she was brave, loyal, sacrificed for others, was filled with love for humanity. Many said she was a light in the darkness. Helene wasn’t faithful about going to church, but she did seek God’s help starting the day the SS Guards put her and her family on the train to Auschwitz.

In Historical Clarifications the author discusses all the facts of what happened and what did not. Then there is a Chronology of the Gypsy Camp at Auschwitz, followed by a short glossary. I was surprised at the end to learn this book was translated into English by Gretchen Abernathy who worked full-time in the Spanish Christian publishing world for several years.

This novel is not for the faint of heart; horrific events are shown through Helene and her oldest son’s eyes. It’s brutal, and intense as Helene gives hope to many through her strength and courage to fight for the children held prisoner in this filthy unimaginable place.

The author does a good job of showing the dehumanization process, where people are abducted from their homes, thrust into trains filled with hundreds of people with no food, water and/or facilities. At the camp their hair is cut, belongings taken, left with the clothes on their backs, as they are hustled into barracks like cattle. Their names taken away and replaced with a number that’s tattooed on their body. Many died of starvation, sadistic punishments, exhaustion, medical experiments, and appalling living conditions, because they were too weak or sick to work or picked out by SS guards during roll-call.

The author has helped to engrave some of these images of evil played out in these camps in your heart as he shows how millions of lives changed a flash. He helps readers remember to never take life for granted. It’s said, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

This author includes 12 discussion questions to help generate lively discussion at your book club. This book and these events will make your heart ache and leave an impression in your mind you won’t soon forget.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins! www.bookfun.org
The Book Club Network blog www.psalm516.blogspot.com
Book Fun Magazine https://tinyurl.com/y9lwbfrs
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Auschwitz Lullaby by Mario Escobar is based on the events of a German Aryan Helene Hanneman and her family. She was married to Johann who was a gypsy and a talented violinist. The Hanneman’s had five children (including twins).. One day during the war Helene is stopped on the streets and is told the German soldiers were taking away her gypsy husband and children. She is told to stay. Helene refuses and goes with her family. The family is separated. Helene and the children to one area of Auschwitz and Johann to another. The downward spiral begins.

I was immediately interested in their story at the beginning. However, after arriving at Auschwitz, I felt like I was just reading a timeline of events. I received a copy from NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read this book.

The story that is told in "Auschwitz Lullaby" is an important and emotionally touching one but, unfortunately, the writing style didn't really do it justice in my opinion.

I think that telling the story of the Hannemanns is definitely important and that the novel dealt with a heavy subject matter and an awful time in history that should never be forgotten. That said, I think that "Auschwitz Lullaby" simplified and streamlined to many plot elements to really develop the real people this story is about. There were no grey areas, no decisions and choices that made the protagonist waver in her conviction, and I felt that this took away from their characterisation.

Many of the things that happened in Auschwitz were touched on but not really developed to a point were the atrocities felt real and threatening. Dr. Mengele gets some development but even his crimes are only implied rather than actually shown.

Overall, I think the novel could have profitted from better characterisations and a more developed plot.

Auschwitz Lullaby By Mario Escobar
At times hard to read, however, a well researched, profoundly sad and inspiring novel. Helene Hannemann
sought to make life a bit more tolerable for the children during captivity.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.